HUNDREDS of British extremists who fled to Syria have now RETURNED to the UK, police have revealed.

A "significant proportion" of the 700 extremists who made the journey to the war-torn country planned on joining Islamic State.

While around half of the jihadists are believed to have come back to Britain.

It also emerged that suspected terrorists are being arrested at a shocking rate of almost one every day.

The shocking figures came as senior officers at Scotland Yard warned that rising numbers of WOMEN and CHILDREN are also being drawn into extremism.

Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley, national lead for counter-terrorism, said police and security services were working on hundreds of active investigations.

He added: "ISIL and other terrorist groups are trying to direct attacks in the UK, encouraging British citizens to travel to Syria to fight and train, and are seeking, through propaganda, to provoke individuals in the UK to carry out violent attacks here.

"There is no doubt of the horrific nature of the offences being committed overseas. The influence of those who wish to bring similar violence to the streets of the UK has been an increasing threat here."

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A 'significant proportion' of the 700 extremists planned on joining the Islamic State

Mr Rowley said the number of individuals who are "of significant concern" to authorities has now passed 700, and that there was a "fairly even balance" between the numbers still in Syria and those who have returned.

He said: "They are not aid workers or visiting relatives - they are people of real concern that they are getting involved in fighting or are supportive of it. They are potential terrorist suspects."

Arrests for suspected terrorism offences in 2014/2015 have increased by a THIRD compared to the previous year.

There were a total of 338 arrests in 2014/2015 compared to the 254 detained in the previous year - with more than half of those related to Syria.

A total of 89 people were convicted of terror-related offences in 2014/15 while 114 are awaiting trial.

It was also revealed that more than one in 10 (11 per cent) of those arrested on suspicion of terror-related crimes in 2014/2015 were female while 17 per cent were under 20.

"It's not going to be a one-off to see people in their teenage years coming into this. It replicates a bit what we see in gang crime - people with troubled histories get drawn into serious crime and can get drawn into this."

The number of terror suspects arrested in each quarter has roughly doubled in the last six years, with arrest totals in the last three years being 54 per cent higher than the previous three.

Mr Rowley said the trend appeared to coincide with events in the Middle East including the Syria conflict and emergence of Islamic State, although he said these are not "exact triggers".

He described the number of arrests by counter-terrorism units across the country in the last year as "quite dramatic", adding: "You are getting towards now an arrest a day."

Around two-fifths of the arrests are for offences such as glorifying terrorism or preparation for terrorist acts, while others relate to suspects who are "looking towards terrorism" through activities such as fundraising.

Mr Rowley confirmed that several plots have been foiled over the last year, with the counter-terrorist police network "working at a fair pace" to "keep up with the change in work".

He added: "At one end of the spectrum you've got well-organised plots, potentially choreographed and even directed from overseas.

"At the other end, you've got people who are inspired by some of the propaganda and messages and other communications coming out from Isis but largely acting of their own volition.

"Those will often be low-tech in methodology - very basic in terms of bomb-making, using knives or plans to use cars to run people over.

"The challenge for us is that range from the sophisticated, organised, directed through to the volatile lone actor. The reach of this problem into communities is different to what we've had before."